Pivdencom Bank
Related Articles
Perhaps it is as if it was yesterday that Christopher Moltisanti and his team of Soprano Family agents hijacked a shipment of Pokémon cards around the turn of the millennium on HBO, but two decades later, the Nintendo series-based collectible card game is arguably more popular than ever.
Packs of cards are flying off shelves amid the latest collectible card boom, and sales of older cards have exploded as people have returned home to mine their closets for a good salary. And while there is a lot of speculation that these big sales have something vague behind them, the government has apparently found evidence of at least one illegal sale of a single Pokémon card that costs five figures.
As the Washington post detailed, the federal government has released details of the few who have abused the multitude of pandemic-related business programs and loans to people over the past two years due to the pandemic’s hardships. Part of that went to Vinath Oudomsine, who apparently used two-thirds of his loan on a single card that cost the Georgian $ 57,789.
On July 14, 2020, according to prosecutors, Oudomsine applied for a loan for a company he said had 10 employees and a turnover of $ 235,000 over one year. The following month, according to court documents, the SBA deposited $ 85,000 into a bank account in Oudomsine’s name.
Court records give few details on the alleged purchase of the Pokémon card – such as the “pocket monster” it was carrying – simply indicating that Oudomsine purchased it “on or around” on January 8 of this year.
Collectible game cards can fetch big bucks Рthis year, an unopened box of first-edition Pok̩mon cards sold for over $ 400,000.
Interestingly, they didn’t specify which card it is, although the most likely candidate is the Charizard card that many have long coveted in the base set. Still, no matter how nostalgic you want to get for your Pocket Monster-filled youth, try not to break the law along the way.
[via WaPo]
